Neel Mehta
Siemens‘ nonprofit arm has partnered with The Center to Advance CTE and The Center on Education and Skills at New America to expand an initiative that aims to train young adults for middle-skill jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
Siemens said Friday Advance CTE will support states and communities’ efforts to recruit students into career technical education programs and will reveal four participating states in 2017 as part of Siemens Foundation’s STEM Middle-Skill Initiative.
The Center on Education and Skills will pursue research in efforts to identify international best practices that can be adapted in the U.S. to boost the effectiveness of STEM apprenticeships for high school students, Siemens added.
“The reasons behind the lack of focus on youth apprenticeships in the U.S. are not well known but likely to be complex,” said Mary Alice McCarthy, Center on Education and Skills director.
“Understanding the barriers — both real and perceived — to growing youth apprenticeship in the U.S. is an essential first step for building an evidence-based strategy that can effectively overcome those barriers.”
Siemens Foundation launched STEM Middle-Skill Initiative in October 2015 and has worked with Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program, the Labor Department’s American Apprenticeship Grantees and the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices.
